by Claire Ryann
Beartooth wasn't far from home, close enough to visit, far enough to not visit too often. Rent was still high and money was harder to come by. She'd been glad that she'd saved up before moving, otherwise she'd be living in her car.
It was hard to find apartments and when she had found a few, rents were astronomical. That's how she'd ended up renting the little single wide trailer house in the park. It was probably built in the 80's, but it was cozy and affordable.
Getting established in a new area was tough. She'd spent her free time pounding the sidewalks, visiting all the local businesses and introducing herself, handing out fliers, offering discounts for new customers.
She was starting to see a return on her investment. This month was looking like the first one in four that she wouldn't have to get into her savings to cover her expenses.
But a girl can only do so much self promotion before she starts to burn out. So today, she had opted to get out of town and not do one damn bit of salon-related work at all. That's how she'd ended up in the Magic Forest state park, hiking through a dense Eucalyptus grove that some settler had planted here a hundred years ago thinking the trees were going to make him millions.
Instead, it turned out that the Eucalyptus was about worthless for his plans. He'd eventually gone broke and moved on and his trees were annexed into the park.
It was a weird story but it made for a nice, if slightly creepy, place to take a walk. Being a week day, there was very little traffic and she'd had the woods all to herself. She'd been following the easy walking path through the trees as they filled in the valley between two hills. The path wound along a little stream as it made its way out to the estuary.
When she'd come to a little wooden sign that said "ridge view" she decided to explore.
That had to have been three hours ago-- Jessica pulled her phone from her back pocket and checked the time. Two o'clock. Two and half hours of trudging uphill.
She looked down at where she'd come from. The Magic Forest was below her, the Pacific Ocean stretching out on the west side view, and nothing but green grass and wild flowers on the hillside all around her.
She looked up at where the trail finally leveled out at the top of the hill. So. Close.
Jess pulled a new supply of fresh, ocean air into her lungs and continued to trudge.
When she finally reached the top of the hill she wanted to throw out her arms and twirl around, maybe sing, jump up and down, plant a flag, claim this land in the name of some foreign land. What she did instead was bend over and brace her hands just above her knees while she gasped for breath.
Holy cow that was a long, steep climb.
Jessica made a mental note to never do this again.
She stood up again and turned in a slow circle. Staring at the vast ocean, the semi-circular coastline that made up Beartooth Bay, the boats in the harbor-- idly wondering which one was the trawler that took Harrison out to sea each morning-- the Embarcadero running along the shore with its rows of little shops and restaurants making it impossible to see the actual edge of the water in town.
The way the houses appeared stacked on top of each other in their enthusiasm to get the best spot on the hill overlooking the water. Cute little cottages and bungalows in pinks, baby blues and mint greens with white trim with newer stucco construction mixed in where someone had torn down the old to build new.
Then the highway with the big stores and restaurants alongside before another hill rose up, covered with newer housing and big apartment and condo complexes.
And then nothing.
Just like that, the human element gave way to nature. The Valley of the Bears spread out in a big sweeping plain covered with wild grass and a few trees. Little streams cutting their way through the landscape till they joined together in one of the main tributaries that formed the estuary before finally making contact with the ocean.
It was all very pretty from way up here.
Jessica's breathing slowly returned to normal. She was glad she'd grabbed a sweatshirt on her way out the door this morning, the wind up here was brutal.
She gave the forest below her another sweeping glance before continuing her 360 degree view. To the south, she could see the coastline disappear on its way back toward California's densely populated LA basin.
Another quarter turn and she was looking over the other side of the ridge. The east side was steep, a few more rocks, but just as pretty. It swooped down into a big valley before rising up in another long range of mountains on the other side. She could see ridge after ridge of the Coastals where they marked a distinction between the coast and the big valley in the state's middle.
Finishing her turn, she saw a barbed wire fence where it created a boundary between public land and private. The fence ran down the east side of the mountain, bearing small "no trespassing" signs on each post. Just inside the swatch of private land, a narrow road made its way precariously up the side of the mountain. The road looked all but abandoned. Too narrow for a car or a truck, for sure. Maybe some kids still came up on ATVs now and then, but Jess wasn't sure of that. It looked like it had been abandoned for decades.
She followed her trail along the top of the mountain, heading north. A few hundred yards ahead, the trail appeared to end in a big fenced in circle with a picnic table and an interpretive sign overlooking the ocean.
As she headed toward it, she noticed on her right that the scary road on the private land ended in a small patch of bare dirt. A small patch of bare dirt that was currently occupied by a full size, extended cab, four wheel drive, silver truck.
A very familiar looking truck.
Jessica's heart had skipped to double time before her brain had put it all together.
It was Harrison's truck.
She knew what he drove because last week when he'd shown up for another trim, he'd parked it on the street right in front of the salon.
She found a spot where she could scramble down the short section of hill from the trail to the little patch of level land where the truck was parked.
Definitely Harrison's truck.
She peered inside. A pile of clothes was laid on the driver's side seat. Boots on the floor board. A scrap of paper was on the dashboard. It turned out to be an old receipt.
She stretched up on her tip toes for a better look. The truck was tall and she wasn't.
The alarm didn't seem armed and she was pretty sure the doors weren't locked. She considered trying a door. Her hand was on the handle before she decided against it.
As bad as she wanted to snoop, it wasn't the right thing to do. And if she was wrong about the alarm, it would blare across two valleys on both sides of this hill for who knows how long and how far the sound would reach?
She walked around the truck and memorized the parking permit stickers in the back window, the bumper sticker that said "If you're OSO Thirsty, follow me," the license plate number.
Where was he?
Jess searched the landscape around her. Nobody was out here. She could see at least a mile in every direction, several miles in some, but no hint of movement. No Harrison.
Well it seemed pretty obvious that he was out here somewhere. The truck was here and this wasn't exactly the kind of place someone just happened to park while they ran into the post office or the liquor store.
Where ever he was, he had to come back.
Jess decided to wait.
She leaned carefully against the bed of the truck and worked on her "reason" for being here when he showed up.
And show up he did!
The wind wasn't too bad down here by the truck but it was noisy as it whipped over the crest of the ridge above her. That must have been why she didn't notice him at first. By the time she heard the heavy footsteps approaching from her left, he was already even with the hood of the truck.
Jessica jumped, startled out of her far away thoughts, and found exactly what she'd been waiting for only 20 feet away from her.
Exactly what she'd been waiting for.
Harrison was walking casually toward her with a hint of a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth, his eyes staring at her with an intensity that she wasn't prepared for, his hair a messy disarray in the wind and looking damp as though he'd been sweating.
She couldn't detect a drop of sweat on him though. How could she? He was completely naked! Just...naked. Walking around like it was no big deal, like she'd seen him naked a million times already.
She felt the color flush her face, secretly admitting that she kind of had seen him naked a million times already.
Then she realized she was staring.
Then she realized she hadn't been giving him proper credit in all those torrid fantasies she'd been having.
Then she realized what she was staring at.
Her face got hotter, as if it was possible to blush any harder. Maybe it wasn't possible, because the heat flowed back out of her face and down her body. Pulling her nipples to erect attention before coiling tightly through her core and landing in a tingling sensation between her legs.
Harrison, meanwhile, kept coming toward her.
At first, his mouth had looked like he was fighting the urge to burst out laughing. Like he realized what an awkward situation he was putting her in and was playing a bit of a joke. But by the time Jessica wrestled her eyes off the erection that was growing to something well beyond her naughtiest dreams, his eyes had gone as dark and intense as the storms that rolled in off the ocean at night.
The playful grin tugging at his lips had dropped into a determined line, his full lips pulled together slightly in the look of a hunter stalking prey.
Her heart beat went into double time. This wasn't happening. She told herself it wasn't happening. Things like this did not happen. in real life. to her.
She had about 10 seconds to assure herself that she had obviously fallen asleep and was enjoying quite possibly the best dream about Harris so far before it happened.
He was on her.
She felt like she'd been ambushed by a mountain lion-- except she saw him coming. Or maybe this was what it was like to get mesmerized by a sea siren?
Why was her brain filling up with all these stupid stupid thoughts when she was finally kissing the hottest man on the planet?! Jessica fought to control her breathing, she mentally ran off all the crazy things rushing into the suddenly empty space inside her mind. She closed her eyes, she parted her lips, she let his tongue ravage her mouth. She surrendered herself to whatever he was about to do.
If this was a dream, she was 120% up for it. If it wasn't a dream, she did not want to fuck it up.
Chapter 5
Harris hadn't meant for this to happen. He'd started off walking toward her, toward his truck with his clothes in it, trying not to let on about being self conscious.
He wasn't shy and he had nothing to be ashamed of, but that didn't make it less awkward to have to stroll casually naked in front of a woman he was wildly attracted to.
He figured it served her right for hanging out waiting for him. By the time he'd rounded the front of the truck he'd been having a hard time keeping a straight face. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she finally noticed him. When she noticed that he wasn't wearing any clothes.
Then he'd gotten within a few feet of her. The wind had shifted slightly, blowing her scent into his nostrils, filling senses that were still heightened from hours of being in his bear with what had started as her naturally intoxicating essence and quickly blossomed into an arousal sweeter than he'd ever encountered before.
He knew his dick was growing. He could feel it hanging heavier, bouncing off his thigh with the next step and then out of the way before he could take another one. He should have been embarrassed, he should have blushed and coughed and made some remark to break the tension. Instead, he felt the wild animal gaining control by fractions of an inch.
By the time he realized he was going to kiss her, he'd also realized this wasn't any ordinary attraction. Something about Jess was different.
He had just enough time to be terrified before his lips touched hers. And not quite enough time to run away.
His hand wrapped around the side of her face, holding her head firmly so she couldn't get away from him as he tilted her face to his. Not that he had to worry about that, she seemed to melt into his touch.
Her lips opened for him and he moved his tongue against hers, pushing into her mouth to explore while his free hand roamed from her neck to her shoulder to her breast.
He could feel her nipples hard behind the padded wall of her bra. His hand hurried to find its way under the hem of her t-shirt and move the offending fabric out of his way. He needed to hold that perfect mound of flesh in his hand, feel it filling his palm, roll that pebbled nipple between his fingers.
Jess moaned into his mouth as his thumb made its goal.
Harris moved closer to her, pinning her body against the back of his truck, one knee making its way between her thighs while his other hand loosed its grip on her head in search of greater treasure.
He was moving too fast. This wasn't the way he'd planned it, but now that he had his lips on her, her skin under his hands, he was having a hard time slowing down. He needed to feel every inch of her all at once and his inability to do that made both the man and the bear a little insane.
It was good that he was already naked, that meant the only clothes in his way were hers.
The t-shirt was up over her breasts, her bra pushed out of his way so he could see her. She had beautiful skin, creamy and smooth, with big aerolas that covered the tips of each breast and puckered into long, hard nipples that he took turns sucking and licking and flicking his thumbs over just to see how much harder they could get. Just to hear her moaning as her weight fell against the truck for support.
At first it seemed like Jess wasn't sure what to do with her hands, but now that he had dropped to one knee between her legs while his mouth did its best to taste every curve of her body, she had let them drop onto his shoulders.
Her hands were so soft. He loved the feel of them as her fingers fluttered from his shoulders to his hair to the back of his neck while he tried to unbutton her pants with his mouth.
Another side effect from having just emerged from the bear-- forgetting to use his hands. He remembered them just before he'd bitten the button off the pants even though it meant letting go of her tits.
Now he was on both knees, pushing her feet into a wide stance to make room for him as he nibbled his way across the newly exposed flesh as he moved the fabric to reveal the source of her scent.
Harrison's eyes closed as he inhaled deeply.
Jessica's foot moved lightly to step out of the pants that needed to get out of the way.
Harrison placed his hands on her hips, his thumbs coming together at the base of the dark brown triangle of hair that pointed the way to her center. His thumbs pulled gently at her outer lips, parting her folds to reveal the soft pink inside.
His tongue flicked lightly over her swollen button.
Jessica's back arched, one foot lifting to brace against his upper thigh, her hoarse cry mixing with the wind.
Harrison smiled and licked again, a little less lightly this time.
Jess's fingers knitted together at the back of his head, pulling him against her as a sharp gasp filled her lungs.
He couldn't tease her for long. Someday, someday soon, maybe later today, he'd pin her to ground and tease her tender clit till the sky broken open for her but right now the sound of her cries and the movement of her body was calling to him and nothing could prevent him from having her.
Harris reached around her waist and pulled her down to the ground with him. Pivoting her away from the truck and rolling her onto her back beneath him.
His mouth was on hers again, one hand kneading the flesh of her breasts, the other sliding between the slick folds of her pussy, making sure she was ready for him.
Her hand found its way down his chest, leaving a trail of white
hot sparks where ever it touched him, then he felt it close around the base of his shaft.
It was his turn to gasp sharply. His eyes closed involuntarily, his forehead falling against hers. Her hand slid up the length of him and moved over the sensitive hole at the tip of his cock. A low groan made its way out of him.
He could feel Jess smile at his response as her hand moved again. Her lips made contact with the side of his face, raining kisses over his cheek and along his jaw before he found her with his mouth and began another hungry kiss.
She took over for him, her hand moving him against her, lining the tip of his cock up against her wetness.
It was too much. Too much to have her hand on him while he could feel the breach of her womanhood at the same time.
He reached for her hands, bringing them both up and pinning them the the ground at the sides of her head. He could feel the bear at his surface, he knew his eyes had Changed. He didn't care. He couldn't pull it back now. He looked down at her, searching for her eyes.
This was her last chance. He still couldn't find the words, so this was it. If she saw the bear in his eyes and still wanted him, that was all the answer he'd need. But if she was afraid...
Harris momentarily froze waiting an eternity to see her eyes meet his. Her skin was flushed with desire, her lips puffy from their rough kissing and parted in a way that made her look as wild as he was. Her lashes fluttered a few times before her eyes really held his.
He knew the exact moment she saw him, really saw what was happening to her and all the pent up energy that had been held back broke free of his control. His body moved of its own accord while his eyes continued to look into hers.
Her body was hot and wet and ready for him in every way. He slid into her hard and fast, forcing her interior to make room for him as he powered all the way to the end of her limits.
Her hands had escaped his and were clawing at his back, her nails finding purchase in the skin at his waist. Her knees splayed out wide to make room for his hips, her heels digging into the ground as she writhed beneath him.
